I warmly wish you Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings,
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
KALE & CABBAGE
Kale varieties. Source of this photo: www.chowhound.com
Winter is the season of the brassicaceæ (the scientific name of kale & cabbage botanical family) dishes. Tasty, comfort meals, full of vitamins and minerals. They are better eaten in winter, their rich content “marries” better the needs of our organism.
There are some precautions to take when cooking them.
The first one: if we eat them raw, we must shred them and rub the shreds with coarse salt until soft. They will leave their vegetation water. Then wash the shredded cabbage, dry it with a clean linen and prepare it as you like. Cabbage salad is an excellent way to taste it (see recipe below).
The second one: when you cook them, combine some black pepper (whole grains), bacon and bay leaves. I share here with you an exquisite recipe of cabbage rolls with meat, a “must” in the Eastern Europe countries (in Romania they are a national dish and a Christmas favorite). Continue reading KALE & CABBAGE
CHRISTMAS IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE
My garden in Tourrettes-sur-Loup (Provence) at Christmas time
There is a blessed part of the Earth: The South of France. And there is Provence, a part of the region called PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur).
Here the sun shines most of the time and the winter is full of balsamic perfumes: rosemary, lavender, eucalyptus…
The food is wonderful, based on excellent ingredients: cheese, meat, olive oil, fish, fruits and vegetables that grow here. There are receipts that come from far away, they passed through centuries for the joy of the palate of generations.
For Christmas, the Provençal table is rich of meals – oysters, foie gras, duck, pork – all prepared in traditional ways.
But I want today to suggest you a meal that is healthy, beautiful and very, very tasty: the bouillabaisse. Continue reading CHRISTMAS IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE
A HAPPY MARRIAGE – Part One
THE ART OF KEEPING YOUR MAN
Why people who get married promising each other eternal love (till death do us part …), come to divorce, sometimes in a stormy manner, with armies of well paid lawyers, with children tossed here and there, with tears, sweat and sometimes blood?
How is it possible to get to this, after the white flowers, the romantic words and the strong attraction between two people?
In what precise moment starts the way of no return, the inexorable descent into the underworld? How you could prevent it?
The answer, at least to me, is: by paying attention to each other. Never, ever, neglect your significant one. Keep the passion alive.
How?
Find here some answers that can help the ladies to keep their man. These are are tips and recommendations arising from my personal experience and also from the observation of my surroundings. And they have all a common denominator: ENHANCE.
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Smile, smile, smile. Men do not like pouting women who complain for everything. A smile makes life easier and enhances your man.
2. Do not compare your man to the other men, in a negative way for him. Do the contrary.
3. Never speak with nostalgy about your ex. Never. This can produce an irreparable rupture in his soul.
4. Never create a coalition with your children against their father. The coalition must be always between you and your man. Remember that the children will go away and you will remain, grow old, and, if you are lucky, die with your man.
5. Make concessions. Don’t see that as a weakness. Renouncing at something in favor of the beloved one is an act of strength.
6. Prepare his favorite meals for him. Make him perceive life as a feast organized for him.
7. Don’t criticize his choices. Remember that he chose you.
8. Help him to realize his dreams.
9. Be sometimes a mother for him. Some other times a daughter, a sister, a friend.
10. Don’t aim to be equal with the men: it’s not big deal. Be a woman. He will admire you for that.
11. Valorize your man showing interest in his work. In our days, the greatest frustrations in the life of a man come from work. The challenges of the work produce anxiety, the feelings of inadequacy and complexes of inferiority that influence on the other spheres of his personal life. Help him to overcome the difficult moments.
12. Don’t obsess him with your jealousy. It is a wrong feeling, that harm you both.
13. Tell him “I love you”, every day. Caress him, every day. Make him feel the most important man on earth. Every day.
“MOTHERS” IS MY NEW FILM
Here it is, I finished the shooting of “Mothers”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEpW0bceR_E
The film is ready for release soon. It is the dramatic story of two mothers, a Muslim and a European, both living in the West of Europe. Their lives are changed for ever by their sons’ choice: They enlisted in the jihad.
PRINCE, SPAGHETTI & ART
Posted by Liana Marabini
The iconic Artist who left us, Prince, author of “Purple Rain”, used to be a spiritual man. I always liked his quotes, this among all: “Everyday I feel is a blessing from God. And I consider it a new beginning. Yeah, everything is beautiful”.
He had an eclectic relationship with food. He comes from humble origins. When he was a child, Prince couldn’t afford to eat fast food, so he’d stand outside McDonald’s on Plymouth Avenue in Minneapolis just to smell the food. Which is ironic, because through the years he became a PETA-endorsed vegan who won’t “eat anything with parents”. Continue reading PRINCE, SPAGHETTI & ART
Cattelan, shame on you
Maurizio Cattelan, a very quoted artist will expose at Frieze in New York a donkey. Alive.
I still remember the shameful “artwork” exposed some years ago somewhere in Europe, in an “art” gallery. A poor dog, alive, that died after some days, without food and water, exposed there, by an “artist”.
Are these people human? Considering their deeds, no. They take themselves for God. Because the dog and the donkey, are not their creations, but creatures of God.
I’m ashamed for you, Cattelan. Vergogna! I thought you were an accomplished artist.
I’m a patron of the arts (of real arts) and I feel sorry for you. Why didn’t you create something by yourself? Is your inspiration dried up? Finita? That is why you exposed the donkey. Why are you not charitable and respectful and protective with an innocent animal?
Who will buy this artwork? Let’s hope, that will be a farmer!
Maurizio Cattelan, Warning! Enter at your own risk. Do not touch, do not feed, no smoking, no photographs, no dogs, thank you (1994).
Image: www.perrotin.com.
THE ART OF HAPPINESS
Most people think that if they are rich and famous they will be happy. Wrong. On the contrary, if you are happy, you have more probability to become rich and maybe also famous. What is the key for happiness? It’s simply: Enjoy what you have. And this is an attitude we can learn.
Appreciate what you have
I read today in a French women’ magazine, the letter of a reader: “I separated from my child’s father one year ago and now I am sorry. I was wrong to take off from my son his father. I tried to make an approach and ask him to come back, but in the meanwhile he met another woman, he lives with her. He seems to have turned the page…” Continue reading THE ART OF HAPPINESS
The art is food for the soul
Catholic Film Festival
The International Catholic Film Festival, under the High Patronage of the Pontifical Council for Culture, is open now. Please download the application form at: www.mirabiledictu-icff.com and send your film for evaluation.
Make people know more about faith through your film. Mirabile Dictu, International Catholic Film Festival arrives at its 7th edition and is a reference for the Catholic visual arts. Short films, Documentaries, Motion films are accepted.
A film is a very powerful tool for evangelization.
The art of using the remains (Part I): A recipe
In the nineteenth century a host of books was published on the subject of the use of the remains in the kitchen. Their content would be useful today to many, especially in the US, where there is a costume that scandalizes the Europeans: the “doggy bag”, the remains of a lunch or dinner taken away from the restaurant. Irreverent habit for a European, but that does not offend anyone in the United States.
Well, after the Christmas holidays, there are many remains in the fridge: it is as if we were facing a mountain of “doggy bags”.
So, do not let there these goodies, but learn the art of using them, offering them a second life. Continue reading The art of using the remains (Part I): A recipe